Grilled Cheese & Makeup
Grilled-cheese tattoos and customer service wristbands. The following concepts are just too good not to share. And while neither of them come from our industry, they may just get your wheels spinning and the creative juices flowing.
wrist watch
Late last year in the United Kingdom, cosmetics company Clinique introduced a unique customer service concept that embraced color-coded wristbands versus techie tricks like QR codes and iPad interaction to improve a consumer’s experience with their brand.
According to Vogue UK, the makeup company has been keeping an eye on how shoppers peruse their counters and introduced an idea to offer plastic wristbands guests can wear to show Clinique employees just what kind of shopping experience she’s interested in.
These complimentary wristbands fall under the “Service As You Like It” concept and come in three colors: green says, I have time. Let’s talk; white expresses, Time is of the essence; and pink says, Browsing and happy.
loyalty, skin deep
Melt Bar & Grilled in Cleveland, Ohio, has made a loud and permanent case for having the longest lasting loyalty program.
Melt (www.meltbarandgrilled.com) opened in Cleveland in 2006. Melt does grilled cheese like no other, and the average two-hour wait to get seated for dinner seven days a week is proof of that.
In September 2009, Melt owner Matt Fish came up with a crazy idea to start a loyalty program. Here’s the crazy part: Get a tattoo of the Melt logo, get 25 percent off your order…for life.
“I never thought the promotion would take off like it has, but in a way, it’s a real honor to be such of permanent part of someone’s life,” Fish told Kathy Carr of Crain’s Cleveland Business. “You have to really love something to have it tattooed on your body, and people really love our restaurant.”
As I write this, the number of Melt customers who have decided to profess their loyalty and get inked is currently at 379 with no signs of stopping.
give it a go
I know these ideas might be bit of a stretch for you, but that’s what it’s all about trying something new. These two companies one large and one small gave two unconventional ideas a shot and so far, so good.
What envelope-pushing idea do you have, and what’s holding you back from giving it a go? And if it’s a “Tattoo for a Tomato Plant” promotion, I want to be the first to know.
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